DESCRIPTION: (Edited from the applicant's abstract) Dr. Coward proposes to establish an exploratory center on the health of rural elders. The long-term objective of the center is to enhance and expand the capacity of UF faculty to conduct research on the health and effective functioning of older rural populations. The specific goals of the center are threefold: 1) to stimulate new research focused on the special needs and life circumstances of rural elders; 2) to develop a long-range research agenda concentrated on the health and effective functioning of older rural persons; and 3) to conduct a series of small scale studies that will provide new insight about rural elders and serve as the foundation for future research and funding efforts. These goals will be accomplished through three different, but related, mechanisms. First, multidisciplinary planning groups will be formed to identify and pursue research in three areas: sociodemographic characteristics and health status of rural elders; family relations among rural elders; and health and human services for rural elders. Thirty individuals from 12 academic departments and seven colleges have agreed to participate in these groups. Second, in the first year of the project, the center will undertake five small scale studies. These research projects will use both primary data collection and secondary data analysis to address issues regarding the health of older persons in rural environments. Finally, an advisory board of distinguished gerontologists and rural health researchers will be formed to inform and guide the activities of the center.